New Ronald McDonald House to break ground

$8M project to start in May near current location

The executive board of Ronald McDonald House announced it has raised enough money for a new facility, with a groundbreaking ceremony planned for May 13.

The board began a fund-raising campaign nearly two years ago and has raised $7.2 million toward the goal of $8 million for the project.

The Ronald McDonald House began providing lodging more than 30 years ago to parents who travel to Toledo to get specialized medical care for their children. Located in what was a remodeled funeral home, the 14-room house at 3883 Monroe St. is often at capacity and parents are put up in a local hotel.

Plans to build a house in phases at the current location, however, have been scrapped and instead the board has reached a deal with ProMedica to locate it several feet away on land owned by the hospital system.

“We will still be on the corner of Monroe Street and ProMedica Parkway, but on the opposite corner,” said Chad Bringman, executive director and board president of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Northwest Ohio.

He said the move — across the street to the west — will put the house a little closer to Toledo Children’s Hospital and families with children there won’t have to cross ProMedica Parkway on foot to get to the hospital.

Right now, “It’s not very safe,” Mr. Bringman said.

Mr. Bringman said the Ronald McDonald House owns the present location but details are being worked out between the board and ProMedica over whether it will lease or buy the new property.

He said constructing the new house all at once across the street, instead of in phases at the current site, will save time, money, and headaches for the staff and visitors because fewer disruptions will occur. He estimates it will cut the construction time by about six months and shave about $100,000 to $200,000 off the project’s budget.

Built in 1906 as a farmhouse, the structure operated as a funeral home from 1940 until Ronald McDonald House opened its doors. The building has undergone several expansions to reach its present 8,000 square feet.

Mr. Bringman expects the new building will be complete by the summer, 2015. The planned 38,000-square-foot house will double the amount of space for families from 14 to 28 rooms.

The house also will feature a much larger kitchen with two islands and a prep area for volunteers to use when serving meals to the families. Laundry facilities will increase from one to three and community spaces where families can relax and watch television will be expanded, he said.

Monroe-based La-Z-Boy, Inc. plans to donate furniture for the common areas of the new house, Mr. Bringman said. Owens Corning will provide building materials for the construction and Lumber Liquidators, Inc. plans to donate flooring.

He said the board has not decided what to do with the current facility after the move. In recent years, ProMedica has purchased and developed many of the properties adjacent to Toledo Hospital but a ProMedica spokesman said officials have no plans at this time to purchase the land.

Among major donors for the $8 million construction include McDonald’s Co-op of Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan, made up of owners and operators of McDonald’s restaurant franchises, which has agreed to give $1.5 million. Toledo Children’s Hospital and its parent company, ProMedica, have pledged $1 million, and Findlay-based Marathon Petroleum Corp. will give $300,000.

Also, Ronald McDonald House will use $1 million of its own money for the project.